Suggestions For September 21 & 22

September 21-27, 2008, has been designated National Keep Kids Creative Week. The purpose of the week is to encourage children to be imaginative and offer them time for creative play.

According to the entry in Chase's Calendar of Events 2008, "Their busy, task-oriented schedules in home and school give children little room for creative play. Set aside time this week to celebrate the inventive minds of kids. Encourage a child to make up a story, draw, even look for animal in cloud shapes — let their imaginations soar."

This may be the perfect chance for you and your newspaper colleagues to put together a children's creativity fair, bringing together several activities during which kids can use their imaginations. Some possible businesses and organizations that can take part include:

• community theaters
• art museums
• dance studios
• music studios
• cooking schools
• photography studios
• writing groups

Children are not supposed to be miniature adults, with everything they do centering around final results, and winning or losing. They need time to play, pretend and be creative. Your newspaper can be the community leader that helps to promote this.

There are several celebrations and historical events for September 22, 2008, including American Business Women's Day, the first day of Autumn, Dear Diary Day, Elephant Appreciation Day and the creation of the ice cream cone. It is also the day the establishment of the office of the U.S. Postmaster General, back in 1789.

Honor the United States Postal Service on September 22 by creating a themed page, with the organization's history as well as information about your local post office. And encourage businesses and civic organizations of all kinds to sponsor the page; you may even wish to donate revenue from the page to the USPS' charities.